The New York Rangers and the Ottawa Senators split 2 games at Madsion Square Garden in the first-round Eastern Conference series this past week. It all comes Ottawa’s Scotiabank Place for game 3 tonight. And media reports, like this article from the Globe and Mail, say it’s getting pretty hot and heavy, especially after Sens captain Daniel Alfredsson was injured in game 2.

It was not clear Sunday whether Alfredsson would return to the lineup. The injury could conceivably have a galvanizing effect on the team, should captain-in-waiting Jason Spezza be able to elevate his game to compensate.

“It’s going to get more intense as the series goes on,” Spezza predicted. “The temperature is obviously rising.”

“It’s going to get elevated every night,” Boyle of the Rangers promised.

Regardless of whatever action Shanahan might take, it seemed the tone had been set for the rest of the series.

“This is old time hockey,” said Zenon Konopka, a serial fighter also inserted into Ottawa’s lineup Saturday. “There are going to be a lot of stitches and blood before this one is done. It’s going to be a fun series.”